The Australia-headquartered company attributed the rise in international inflows to the increasing contribution of new clients.
Total fund under administration (FUA) were boosted by inflows of A$465m, driven by stronger growth in the UK and International business.
Inflows to the Smartfund Protected range of multi-asset funds rose 29% to £38m ($47m, €44.5m).
Total FUA in Smartfund was £157m, up 42% from the previous quarter.
Praemium’s in-house investment management proposition of model portfolios and multi-asset funds grew to £375m.
Retirement account
Following the acquisition of the Wensley Mackay self-invested personal pension (Sipp) business, Praemium launched its new pension offering, the Praemium Retirement Account, on 31 March.
Rebecca Murphy, sales and market director for the firm, said that the retirement account will see its first platform inflows in the June quarter following a full roll out to all IFA partner firms.
“We have a very solid pipeline of new opportunities and the business continues in its commitment to invest in sales, marketing and implementation to support the transition of new clients, and to ensure the delivery of excellent service to our existing client base,” Murphy said.
Boardroom battle
Praemium’s results come amid difficult times for the company, as its board tries to see off a challenge from former chief executive Michael Ohanessian, who was sacked in February 2017 after five and a half years at the helm.
At the time, the board stated that a chief executive with a different skillset would better service the company’s leadership needs for the next phase of its growth.
Refusing to go quietly, Ohanessian has organised a fightback to remove chairman Greg Camm and three other directors. Representing by shareholders who hold a collective 17% of Praemium, the challenger group has successfully demanded a shareholder meeting to resolve the dispute.
A meeting has been arranged for 12 May in Melbourne Australia.
Berated
In defence of the firm’s actions, Camm said that there had been historic difficulties between Ohanessian and the board prior to Camm’s appointment in October 2016.
Camm wrote to shareholders that “the situation came to a head in early January 2017 when he presented me with a lengthy document which indicated that he would refuse, or strongly resist, a number of requests the board had made of him”.
“He followed this by berating me in a heated and aggressive manner for 90 minutes about the failings of the other directors, individually and collectively,” Camm added.
He said that other directors indicated that such behaviour from Ohanessian was a common occurrence when he “was not getting his own way”.
